AUTHORS NOTES
Wow... this was a BIG chapter to write, and it's only half done!
Archer1eye: Ooooh. I want to say something, but I'm NOT going to spoil it for you... Oh, I'm so excited for everyone to read this!
Slyksylva: Today! Mari's wedding is… today!
Chapter 7415th Day of Late Spring 768 n.c
"Sharein! Wake Up!"
I bolted straight up in bed, Shard was standing next to me with a horrified look. It was still dark outside although it made no difference to me.
"Wha?" I asked, trying to clear the grogginess from my mind.
"Listen carefully!" She commanded, looking extremely serious, "Orcs are coming, coming here. Gruumsh has been protecting them, hiding them. They've come from the South, through the mountains. I have to go to my altar, I can do more from there, I need to counteract what he's doing. If the orcs aren't stopped here, they will be able to push straight up into the Irongap Mountains! I need to go!"
She leant in quickly and vanished as soon as her lips touched mine.
I sat there in bed for a moment, processing what she had said. I could feel myself rapidly waking, the cobwebs of sleep burning away. I sprung up out of bed and quickly put on my trousers and shirt, pausing part way through to cast Minor Illusion to shout in Malkarov's bedroom, "Wake up!"
My door opened as I was buckling on my sword and a bedraggled Malkarov and Alladrial, both wearing only sleep shorts, ran into my room.
"Attack!" I shouted, "Orcs are coming from the south!"
Their eyes widened, their mouths opened in alarm and Alladrial was slightly quicker than Malkarov to dash back into their room. I took up my staff from beside my bed and exited my bedroom into the hallway. I could see through Malkarov's open door, the two of them putting on their robes and taking up their own staffs. They were out moments later and I followed them rapidly down the stairs.
"Sharein!" Malkarov ordered, once we had exited the tower, "go and wake up the priests and then follow us into town."
I sprinted as fast as I could to the church and banged loudly on the door once I had reached it. The noise of my banging echoed inside the building. I could not tell whether it was Sister Tera or Father Mattias who opened the door for they both appeared in front of me suddenly.
"Attack! Orcs from the south!" I gasped before I turned on the spot and ran as fast as I could to catch up to the two wizards.
As I reached the peak of the bridge, I could see ahead of me a horrifying scene. Malkarov and Alladrial were standing back to back near the town square, each casting elementalist spells at a mass of orcs who had them surrounded. Their magic appeared to be keeping the orcs at bay, but they were hampered by the types of spells they could cast by the houses around them. These orcs, who must have numbered around thirty were much taller and brawnier than the wizards, must have been some sort of scouting party for I could not see any other orcs near them. Looking towards the southern end of town, however, I could see a mass of figures, movement in and around the farms. I was torn… Should I help Malkarov and Alladrial, or should I warn the town? There were many, many houses between me and the possibly thousands of orcs coming from the south and everyone would be asleep in their beds. Everyone would be… helpless. That decided it for me, I began running to the south. Heedless of the danger and the fact that I was running towards the invading army, I ran down the main street and cast Minor Illusion again to simulate the sound of the town bell being rung, but at twice the volume at least. Behind me I heard the sounds of doors opening, but I didn't look back. I ran until I began to see the face of the orcs ahead of me. Ugly creatures they were, standing at least six feet high and almost twice as wide as a man. Their green goblinoid skin was thicker than a human's and they all had the wide jaw bones, pig-like noses and lower jaw tusks that were characteristic of their race. They were armoured in lacquered leather armour and each carried a wicked looking sword. They had already entered the farms to the south of the main part of town and I tried not to think of the fate of those farmers who resided there.
I cast Elemental Explosion towards the orcs and watched in satisfaction as a sphere of negative energy surrounded them, sucking the life from their bodies and leaving them husks on the ground. They stopped what they were doing and I realised with joy that their nightvision was less effective than Tenebrae's gift to me. I could see them quite clearly, but they were hampered in their ability to see me! Not only that, but the distance that I could cast Elemental Explosion was greater than their ability to see!
I cast Elemental Explosion twice more, killing close to twenty orcs at a time before I realised that I could see movement to my left and right. The orcs were enveloping the town like a hug! The main body of them were coming from the south through the middle road, but two arms of orcs were ahead of the main body on either side! They looked like they were aiming to envelope the town completely and if they were able to join up to the north? They would have the town completely surrounded!
I called upon one of Tenebrae's gifts to me; the ability to create a sphere of darkness. It centered upon me and while I could see through it, the orcs advancing from the south could not. I hoped that it would give them pause, if nothing else. I turned around on the spot and rushed back towards Malkarov and Alladrial. Townsfolk were coming out of the houses on either side of the road and just standing there looking confused.
I yelled as I ran, "Orc army attacking from the south! Run!"
Over and over again I shouted this and even as I ran I glanced left and right to see movement past the houses, closer to the hills of the valley. They were still ahead of me! Movement around the corner of one of the houses ahead of me took me by surprise. Orcs had broken off from the 'arms' to come in towards the houses in the middle. As a family was standing on their doorstep, wondering at the cause of their rude awakening, an Orc stepped up behind them with it's sword raised. I cast a Magic Missile spell at it and watched my magical arrows shoot through the air around the townsfolk to meet in the body of the orc. The orc was thrown backwards and the man, woman and children turned around in shock.
"Run north!" I shouted and they immediately followed my order, picking up their children so that they wouldn't be left behind.
I reached sight of Alladrial and Malkarov just as I stopped noticing movement to either side, I had gotten ahead of the 'arms'! They two wizards had dispatched all of the orcs and were in the process of waking and organising the townsfolk around the town square.
I cast Message at Malkarov, saying, "two arms of orcs are coming up to the east and west this side of the hills. They are trying to surround us!"
I saw Malkarov turn in shock and he nodded at me when he saw me running towards him. He shouted to Allardrial who looked to the east in an alarmed manner.
Orcs began appearing closer and closer on either side and I was forced to stop running when three of them appeared in front of me from an alleyway. They were close enough to each other that I was able to cast Elemental Projection to capture all three in the fan effect of the spell, leaving dry husks behind. I heard a gasp from behind me, but paid it no further attention. I could see more and more orcs coming in from the east. I cast Magic Missile at those that were separated from each other or Elemental Explosion at those who grouped together, I cast Elemental Sphere down alleyways in order to block their path and I moved them forward when I had a chance to concentrate on them, but the orcs just kept on coming! Townsfolk were streaming past me, running to the north away from the approaching army. I focussed on the orcs closest to the fleeing people, making sure that they weren't in danger of attack; but for every orc I killed, two more took its place.
"Shar!" I heard screamed from my left, from the side of the town that I had forgotten to pay attention to, too busy with the orcs coming from the right and hoping that the river would delay the others.
I turned towards the familiar voice and was distressed to see Mari in front of a house in her night clothes. She was on her knees with both hands held out in front of her in a vain effort to protect herself from the orc standing there with it's sword raised. What was Mari doing there? Why wasn't she at the farm? The realisation occurred to me suddenly. It was her wedding day and tradition dictated that on the wedding eve the bride would sleep in the groom's bed for the night and the groom would sleep in the church in front of the altar. She was here, in town, about to be murdered by an orc! An orc that was already swinging its sword down towards her, determined to cleave her skull in twain. I knew that I wouldn't be quick enough, but I cast Magic Missile anyway. They were too far away and by the time the magical arrows reached the orc it would have already killed my friend. In slow motion I watched the arrows form in front of me, from the front of the magical glowing arrow to the back, each one forming out of magical energy at the same time. Once all had formed they paused for just the briefest of moments before they shot off together. The magical arrows spiralled around each other, leaving a faint trail of magical sparks in their wake. Yet despite the incoming magical attack, the orc's weapon was moving downwards. My spell would not make it in time!
Just as the orc's sword was coming down, however, something pushed Mari out of the way! I watched her fall to the side as another form appeared in her place. It was a large person and looked… It was Tomas! Tomas must have come looking for Mari out of the church and pushed Mari out of the way. This didn't change the speed of my Magic Missiles however, it only changed who they were avenging. The orc's mean looking sword came down and cut into Tomas' unprotected shoulder, the sheer force behind it forcing the metal down heedless of bone and flesh. The orc was too preoccupied to notice my spell streaking towards it and just as it's great sword had cut through poor Tomas it hit the evil creature straight into it's back. It collapsed on top of Tomas and I ran to Mari as fast as I could.
She was just half sitting there, staring in shock at the man she was due to marry who was in turn looking towards her with his dead sightless eyes and face contorted in pain. But despite the pain etched on his features, there was a slight smile frozen on his lips and I hoped that his last thought was of the knowledge that he had saved the woman he loved. Mari, though, was frozen in shock.
"Mari!" I shouted and yet she did not move, "Mari! You have to get up, you have to run!"
I grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her and she stood stiffly, almost without thought. Master and Missus Waeder were there, standing in shock at the sight of their son's fate. I pushed Mari towards Master Waeder and told him, "get out of here. Carry Mari if you must, but you need to run north!"
More orcs were approaching from behind their house and I cast Elemental Explosion again into the mass of them. Most of the townsfolk had run past me and were well ahead near Malkarov and Alladrial. Some of them were clutching boar spears, bows, mattocks or large hammers. Some caravan guards had come out of the inn and were wielding swords and shields or bows, as soon as they had heard the call of orcs they had rushed down to the street. A semi-circular line was being formed with enough space between each armed person for fleeing people to run through. Malkarov and Alladrial were standing in the middle above the two priests, who were frantically working to heal a growing collection of wounded just enough for them to be able to flee. I cast Haste on myself and felt time slow. Everyone had slowed down to about half the speed they were moving but I was able to move normally. I ran towards Malkarov and Alladrial but turned to the right just before I reached the skirmish line. Alladrial saw me coming and he was pointing out something to Malkarov.
'Elves can see farther than normal men in starlight and moonlight,' I reminded myself and smiled, 'but not as far as me.'
I could see them clearly, a long line of orcs sneaking through the farmland trying to encircle the town. They had to know that we knew of the presence of the orcs for they would have seen the flashes of light from our spells and likely heard my bell, but they must have been banking on their exact tactic being a surprise to us. I ran towards the head of their line and knew when they had sighted me. I cast Elemental Explosion again, centered farther back into the group in order to hopefully take out the ones in front as well just as my Haste spell ran out . The ball of magical energy sailed from my hands past the wide eyed faces of the orcs to explode in their mass. Before I had a chance to cheer however, I saw and felt the telltale signs of Elemental Explosion being cast from the direction of the orcs! There was one amongst them who was not carrying a sword or wearing laquered leather armor. It smiled triumphantly at me as it's own spell came straight towards me!
I squeezed my eyes closed and braced myself for a lot of pain. There was a flash, lighting up everything through my eyelids in a red light. There was pain, but not as much of it as I expected. My skin prickled a bit, but that was the extent of it. I blinked and opened my eyes, the orc wizard looked shocked, he was standing there dumbfounded. I looked down and saw that all of the grass in a large circle around me was now ash and the grass further out was blackened. The orc's seeming was fire! I was in that moment so happy that I had enchanted my staff with protection from fire rather than any other option. I didn't waste the opportunity though, casting my own Elemental Explosion centered on the orc wizard.
It dropped quickly into a withered husk just like the other fifteen orcs around it. I didn't have time to cheer however as a quick glance back towards the town square revealed that the orcs on the western arm had come through on the town side of the river, which meant they were much much closer to town (walking behind the houses that backed onto the river, rather than being able to be farther back near the hill). All of the injured townsfolk had been healed and were fleeing while those who were armed with weapon or spell were slowly withdrawing to the north as well. I ran to Malkarov and tried to tell him all that I had seen in between deep heaving breaths.
"Calm down," he said, "pause for a moment and catch our breath."
I did so and managed to explain, "there were so so many orcs to the south, but they seemed to be waiting for the two arms to encircle Easthaven."
He nodded, "that's their plan then. Without the warning, they would have managed to surround us completely and cut off any hope. The problem is, now that they know we are aware of their maneuver they will likely just rush up from the south. Our best course of action would be to withdraw north to the mouth of the valley with the hills protecting our flank on one side and the hill and river on the other."
"If we pull back to this valley mouth," Alladrial said, "I can create a wall of stone to block the orcs in the valley but it will only last a short time."
Malkarov hummed for a moment then shouted excitedly, "Anders discourse on permanency of Summoning through Enchantment!"
"What?" Alladrial asked in shock at the unexpected exclamation.
"You cast Wall of Stone and then I enchant it to be permanent!" He said excitedly, "I'll need my chisel and paints from the tower and it will take a little sacrifice of magic, but it can be done."
"If I took you both to the path in the mountains that they are using, could you cast it there?" Came a voice from behind Alladrial, who jumped off the ground in surprise. Shard had appeared behind him!
"Yes, I'm sure I could," Alladrial answered.
Father Mattias was looking at Shard in shock, "who are you?"
"This is Shard," I said, "she's… my friend."
The Father's eyes opened a little wider, briefly… and then flew wide open in shock when Shard said to me, "I've found what Gruumsh has been trying to hide, the sneaky bastard, the path they are using to come through the mountains. They ran across a group of kobolds a month or so ago that had discovered a path and were able to track their trail back through. If we can seal up the pass, we can stop the majority of their army coming through."
"How many are here now?" Malkarov asked.
"The path is very narrow and treacherous in places, easy for kobolds but not so easy for orcs," Shard answered, "the orcs built up a force of a few hundred before they headed here. There are maybe another hundred already through and more slowly trickling in."
"I've killed maybe eighty of them," I guessed and was rewarded by a mixture of incredulous and awe-filled looks from around me.
Malkarov looked back towards the square and added, "we took care of maybe another sixty. So, a hundred and fifty or so here and another hundred at the pass?"
Shard nodded.
"Then we take care of the orcs here and then go to take care of the orcs at the pass and block their passage?" Malkarov suggested.
We all nodded.
"Are you staying for now Allavaer?" I asked Shard and immediately regretted my attempt at being sneaky when I noticed the priests eyes narrow.
"I need to head back to ensure that Gruumsh does nothing else," she answered, "call me when you're ready?"
I nodded and she leant in to give me a quick peck on the lips as she vanished.
The sinking feeling in my stomach only increased when I slowly turned back to Malkarov and noticed all of the odd looks from the armed townsfolk. Sister Terra was actually holding one palm to her forehead and had her eyes closed in a look of embarrassed disbelief. Malkarov and Alladrial just let out a sigh and I could hear Father Mattias' mind working. Strangely enough, the six or seven merchants guardsmen seemed to pay it no mind at all and were in fact more surprised by the reactions of those around them.
I heard one whisper to a colleague, "who's Gruumsh?"
Malkarov said loudly, "if there's only a hundred and fifty left then perhaps we should make our way south and see what we can do. Our," he indicated to myself and Alladrial, 'Elemental Explosion spells can take out around twenty at a time if they are in a large group and that will enhance our odds considerably…"
Malkarov was cut off by a war cry! While we were just standing there, a war party of orcs had made their way up on the other side of the river and crossed it silently over the skipping stones (a path of rocks that had been placed in the river decades earlier that may once have been the only way across but now was merely used by children in the warmer months for fun). These orcs were more spread out and so our Elemental Explosion spells were useless. The merchant guards shifted around without a word said to cover that side and the townsfolk were a little slower to follow them. Malkarov began casting Magic Missile and Alladrial sang out a spell that produced a large bolt of lightning that shot out towards the orcs! I however, could do nothing! Alladrial and Malkarov were both tall enough to be able to see past the guards and townsfolk, but they all completely blocked my view of the approaching war party! I moved off to the north side of the soldier's skirmish line and saw that the two wizards had been able to dispatch another five orcs but the rest were rapidly approaching! I cast Magic Missile at an orc that was running straight towards me as the first of the orcs crashed into a merchant's guardsman. The guard had his shield braced however and although the orc far outweighed him the soldier was able to stand his ground. He poked his sword around the top of the shield in a well practiced move and pieced the orc in the chest, who let out a strangled cry and dropped to the ground. There were thirty or so orcs still remaining though, still running towards us. I noticed that seven of the orcs had lined up in my view and pulled forward the feeling for the magic Alladrial had just cast, I held out my hand to point at them and out shot a Lightning Bolt spell, bright white and blue electricity arcing out from my hand and through the seven orcs. Another Lightning Bolt cast by Alladrial crossed over mine at the point I had hit the third orc. His spell had completely fried that third one and another three on each side of it. Father Mattias whispered a prayer and a large black bear suddenly appeared in front of the approaching orcs, it raised up on its hind legs and let out a roar. Two orcs slowed as they approached to deal with the bear first. The bear swiped its paw at the orc and left a long series of jagged gashes down its chest but the other orc managed to piece the orc with its sword. Other orcs had gathered close to the bear and once they managed to kill it (it disappeared without a trace, showing that it was likely a Summon Monster prayer); Alladrial cast Elemental Explosion which caused an explosion of stone shards to explode out from the center of the group. The shards ripped through those closest with devastating effect and continued out even catching some that were farther away. The earth seeming form of the spell was extremely destructive. An exclamation of surprise sprung out from behind me and I looked back to find that my darksight was showing up for a sphere centered around Malkarov! I looked through it and could see no other orcs behind us! I looked back ahead and could not see any orc who could have cast it. With a strangled cry Malkarov went down, an orc suddenly appearing behind him holding a sword that had pierced Malkarov straight through his stomach!
I cast two Magic Missiles, one after the other straight at the orc assassin who collapsed with a cry of its own.
I ran towards Malkarov, dodging Alladrial's panicked blind-reaching.
"He's been stabbed by an orc!" I exclaimed.
I looked at the sword and realised with a start that I could do nothing with it still there and hoped that pulling it out would not cause more damage. I took Alladrial's hands and brought them and him around behind Malkarov to grasp hold of the sword.
"Pull this out gently on my command," I said as I began my prayer to Tenebrae.
"Now!" I shouted, when I felt the healing magic flowing through my hands.
My Cure Light Wounds prayer flowed into the dying wizard, stitching together the bloody wound from his back to his chest. I hardly noticed the 'darkness' disappear from around us, but apparently one of the priests prayed for Dispel Magic. Sister Terra let out a gasp of surprise as she watched my Cure Light Wounds heal my master.
"How?" she whispered.
I didn't answer as I was instead focussed on Malkarov, whose eyes fluttered open after what seemed like too long a wait.
"Sister Terra!" I called, "I can't do much more than that, can you heal him completely?"
She looked at me suspiciously but nodded, healing was her calling after all.
As the priestess healed Malkarov, Alladrial and I went back to casting Magic Missiles at the approaching orcs. I learned that for most of them I could split the spell up so that it would hit two rather than one and still kill the both of them, most of the time. One we had killed the ones approaching we helped to dispatch the ones already engaged with the townsfolk and guards. Soon enough, they were all dead and Malkarov was standing once again looking none the worse for wear.
"A bit over two thirds to go now," Malkarov said with a smile, "Shard, you and I will go across the river and take a short-cut to my tower."
I nodded and he continued to instruct the others, "move up slowly and carefully but hold in the town square opposite the bridge path. I'll meet you there."
Malkarov and I ran as fast as we could, dodging orc bodies and across the skipping stones until we reached his tower. Once inside I followed him up the stairs.
When we reached the fourth level to get his tools, I told him, "I'll go up to the roof to look out."
He nodded as he rushed to his cupboards and I continued up. Opening the trap door, I exited onto the rooftop and looked out. Dawn was still a while away, there wasn't even a sliver of light from Celestine but Luna was providing some light. Neither of those worried me, I could still see far across the valley as if it were a clear day. I could see no movement behind the houses on the east side and I could see no movement on the west side as I looked to the south but I could still see the orcs massing to the south. They were hard to make out at the distance but there did appear to be over a hundred of them, moving slowly forward in one big group.
"One big group!" I shouted down into the tower, "they are all in one big group and have reached Yorda's farm!"
"Where did I put it?" I heard Malkarov cry in frustration as I hurried down the steps.
As I reached the door I heard him shout again, "aha! There you are!"
He saw me standing in the door and ran towards me, "come on," he said as we rushed down the stairs.
While we ran, he held out a long wooden stick triumphantly, "a wand of cloud kill," he explained, "it will create a cloud just like fog cloud, but it's also poisonous! This might be just what we need!"
At the top of the bridge he stopped suddenly and held one arm out. I skidded to a stop and ran into this arm with an exclamation of surprise.
He turned to me, suddenly all seriousness, "I haven't asked you because they are your secrets to tell, but I need to know now."
I didn't say anything and he huffed at me, "how far can you see?"
'Oh,' I thought, 'that's better than why can you see in the dark.'
"Normal distance as if it were daylight?" I replied.
"Right," he said as he handed me the stick, "the orcs can only see about sixty feet in this darkness, but that's much longer than I can see. This wand can create the fog at over one hundred and fifty feet away. It's activation word is Iktha. It will be up to you to use it. Cast Fog Cloud first though, just before the orcs. Hopefully they will enter the fog cloud tentatively and once they realise it's just fog will move forward more confidently. Use the wand to summon Cloud Kill between us and the fog. The orcs will confidently walk into the different cloud. Have you got that?"
"Yes, got it," I answered with a nod.
We met the others back in the town square and Malkarov calmly filled them in on where the orcs were, how they were approaching and the general plan to advance upon them.
We advanced, not especially cautiously. Striding down the street, we advanced until the orcs were only about two hundred feet away. They were advancing as well, and I could clearly see that they were all headed in a large group down the main road. I tried to judge one hundred and fifty feet and took note of that point and kept Malkarov updated on their movements and how far away from that point they were. Once they got close, I cast Fog Cloud and watched as a large cloud billowed out from that point.
Now my visibility was obscured and I had no idea what they were doing on the other side of it, but moments later I pointed out the wand and said, "Iktha!"
I watched as a second cloud billowed out in front of the other one, except this cloud had a sickly yellowish colour to it.
Malkarov pointed to the houses to my left and right, "check to make sure he orcs aren't leaving the road."
I nodded and did as he instructed, reporting back after a moment, "no sign of them either side."
"Keep checking," he told me, "if we don't see any come through, it will hopefully mean that they are continuing into the fog."
I looked back down the road and realised with a start, "the Cloud Kill is moving into the Fog Cloud."
"Oh good," Malkarov said, "while Fog Cloud billows out and generally sits in place unless a wind is blowing, Cloud Kill moves to the lowest point. It's slightly down hill towards the southern end of the valley so the Cloud Kill should move towards the orcs."
I checked both sides again and still could not see any orcs but when I reported back to Malkarov I noticed that the Cloud Kill had moved fully into the Fog Cloud revealing a twenty foot wide expanse of bodies, a huge pile of them.
"Anything?" Malkarov asked.
"No, nothing either side and the Cloud Kill has fully entered the Fog Cloud," I reported.
"All right," he said, "we'll move forward then."
We walked, much more carefully this time, down the road. Alladrial was the first to make a sound of disgust once we were about eighty feet away. Everyone else viewed the massacre from about forty feets distance.
"Should I cancel Fog Cloud?" I asked.
Malkarov nodded, and I did as he asked. The fog dissipated to reveal instead of a twenty foot length of road paved with bodies, the bodies now extended out about eighty feet before I could see the Cloud Kill spell still drifting southward.
I had just poisoned... killed, over one hundred orcs.
And I didn't feel bad about it, at all, not one little bit.
